We don’t know more about what we’ll hear, but it’s possible that something will show up by the middle of march.
The next version of the Apple MacBook Pro 2022 has been highly anticipated by Apple fans, who have been frustrated with the company’s lack of updates in recent years. While the specs, design, and release date are still unknown, rumors about the next-generation Pro have been stirring up excitement about what to expect from the laptop that’s set to revolutionize personal computing again.Â
Here are five rumors you need to know about the MacBook Pro 2022, so you can be sure you’re prepared to spend your money wisely when it hits shelves later this year (or early next).
Table of Contents
1) MacBook Pros won’t have any ports
Apple is rumored to be planning on removing ports from MacBook Pros altogether by 2022. What would such a move mean for future MacBook owners? Here’s what we think. MacBook Pro will have USB-C only: This rumor has been around since 2016, but it seems that it could finally come true in MacBook Pros in 2022.Â
If so, it means that if you want to connect your laptop to anything other than a power source or display, you’ll need dongles and adapters galore. MacBook Air will be discontinued: With its low price point and long battery life, many MacBook Air users are upset about the news of its possible discontinuation—and for good reason. But if true, it means that Mac fans who want an ultraportable notebook may have no choice but to go with something like a MacBook or MacBook Pro instead.
If MacBook Pros get rid of all ports and go with USB-C only, owners will have to have a USB-C hub if they want access to other ports. Since there are over 800 different types of USB standards, some USB-C hubs won’t be compatible with your laptop. It also means that unless Apple agrees to make an adapter, your older peripherals will no longer work with your new MacBook.
2) Apple will release their own computer chips
Rumors have circulated that Apple will soon release their own chips and update their MacBook, potentially called MacBook Pro 2022. In addition to being faster, these updated chips will add a new security feature and will run in parallel with an Intel chip for better performance. This trend toward vertical integration is something consumers have been asking for as a way of distinguishing Apple’s products from others in its category. With no other company taking on such a challenge, Apple’s move could yield great results—or maybe even bring them out of the competition entirely!
Apple’s MacBook Pro will release its own chips. With competitors moving in on their territory and creating products that are more affordable, Apple needs to make sure that they aren’t losing customers due to price.
3) The new laptops are going to be 15mm thick
Apple’s MacBook Pros have traditionally been, on average, thinner than other laptops. That’s because Apple uses premium materials like aluminum and glass, so you get a laptop that looks great and is easy to carry around. Last year’s redesign of Apple’s MacBook Pros introduced some big changes: namely, these laptops were now available in touch-bar configurations.Â
It also made them significantly thicker (2mm more) than previous models. This hasn’t sat well with all users, so it wouldn’t be surprising if next year’s redesign were aimed at addressing that specific complaint (and adding USB-C). But just how thin can we expect Apple’s next MacBook Pro laptops to be? According to trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors), 15mm thick.
This represents a 2mm jump from last year’s 15.5mm thick MacBook Pros, so if Apple does end up reducing its thickness, it won’t be by much. But for some users that might make all of the difference. It’s also worth noting that Samsung’s latest Notebook 9 Pen laptops are only 13.1mm thick (when measured in their thinnest configuration), while Apple’s current MacBook Pro is already 0.3mm thinner than Samsung’s flagship notebooks.
4) They will have high-resolution touchscreens
Apple’s new touchscreens will be high resolution and have support for at least five simultaneous touch points, according to our sources. Until now, Macs have used screens with a resolution of 1600×900 or 1920×1080, but these new screens will have resolutions as high as 3840×2160 pixels. That’s four times as many pixels as Apple’s existing displays (and a lot more room on your desktop).
In fact, they’ll make Retina MacBooks look kind of fuzzy by comparison. Although Apple’s track record with the adoption of new display technologies isn’t good—remember that Apple didn’t adopt HiDPI until OS X Yosemite—we think it will eventually use higher-resolution displays across its product line.
It makes sense for Apple to do so since its competitors—including Microsoft, Samsung, and HP—already offer ultra-high-resolution touchscreens. A report from Bloomberg last year said that new MacBooks would use panels with resolutions of 4K (or 3840×2160) or higher, but that prediction didn’t come true. Now we’re hearing from a more reliable source that Apple will use high-resolution displays in future MacBooks.
5) Here’s what it all means
MacBook Pro continues to be a category-defining product and has undergone many changes in its history. You’ll find all of that on our MacBook Pro 2022 page, but here are five items from that page that will help put our other information into context: The Apple MacBook Pro 2022 is thinner than ever before, and comes with an OLED touch panel.Â
Apple keeps refining its trackpad technology, first introduced on Macbook Air in 2009, as well as introducing Retina displays for portables for the first time. SSDs continue to grow and grow, which leads Apple at one point to state there is no longer any capacity left inside these laptops. Kaby Lake replaces Skylake chipsets.
This information is provided by some big sources. Also, check our brief review of Apple’s MacBook Pro 2022.